China, Russia lead anti-terrorism drills

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BEIJING, Aug 9 (AFP): China, Russia and four central Asian nations began a joint anti-terror military drill in a remote Muslim- dominated Chinese region Thursday, state press reported.
The exercise involves a total of 6,000 troops and 36 aircraft from the six nations.
Dubbed "Peace Mission 2007," the drill among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is being held in China's far northwest Xinjiang region for two days, then continue in Chelyabinsk, Russia from August 11-17, Xinhua news agency said.
Chiefs of staff from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan held strategic negotiations in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, at the start of the drill, Xinhua said.
The military exercises "will enhance the exchange among SCO member countries and improve their counter-terror capabilities," it said earlier.
The SCO grew out of a regional effort in the mid-1990s to reduce military forces among common borders. It later came to involve anti- terrorism efforts and cooperation in the economic and energy fields.
The organisation is China's most concerted effort at promoting a regional multilateral forum, but some Western critics say it is ultimately aimed at countering US influence in Central Asia.
Human rights campaigners have also criticised the organisation for helping to repress opposition political activists in the member countries through such practices as extrajudicial transfer of suspects between countries.
Beijing has cracked down on ethnic Uighur Muslims living in Xinjiang, many of whom have agitated for a return to the brief independence it enjoyed until 1955 as East Turkestan.